The Underwater Island
by Athena8283
Summary: Dean meets an... odd friend I don't know I can't do summaries Mermaid!Cas This will definitely be heavily edited probably a lot. Yay, Destiel!
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Dean, get out here!"

Dean Winchester walked out of his room and into the main room, sighing. He glanced distastefully around the house. Well, truth be told, it was more of a mansion. He was currently living with his rich grandfather, Samuel, who was the one calling him.

"What is it?" He asked grouchily, sitting on the couch. "I was busy."

"Doing what?" Samuel asked. He was trying to learn how to deal with the 10 year old, but he didn't seem to be pleasing the child. Dean gave him a sour look and pouted.

"Stuff."

"Ah, yes, of course, stuff. Very important." Samuel replied sarcastically. They sat for a moment, glaring at each other, before Samuel sighed. "How are you?"

"Good." Dean mumbled, playing with the hem of his shirt. Samuel looked at him with pity.

"I know it's been hard," He began hesitantly, "Losing your mom and your dad, and… your brother."

Dean nodded and kept looking down at his hands.

"But if we're gonna make it through this, you have to be nice to me, and I'll be nice to you, okay? It might be difficult at first, but I know that we can handle it. You're a tough boy, right?"

Dean nodded again, but still didn't look up. Samuel stopped for a moment, and there was an awkward silence. Then, Samuel was struck with an idea.

"Hey, Dean. Do you know what I do for a living?"

"You make guns."

"That's right!" Samuel smiled. "But that's not all I do. I also make all kinds of other weapons. Lots of people buy my things, and that's why I have such a big house." Dean looked up and fixed Samuel with a blank stare.

"Yeah, so?" He asked.

"Do you wanna try some of 'em?"

Dean's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Samuel chuckled. "Sure! Just make sure to do exactly what I say, alright?"

"Okay!" Dean jumped off of the couch and ran out into the front yard. Samuel smiled and hurried to follow him.

"Alright." Samuel grabbed one of the rifles on the ground and put the safety on. "Be very careful with that, it's heavy." Dean nodded enthusiastically and held out his arms. Samuel carefully handed it to him and showed him how to hold it. Dean tried to pull the trigger, but when nothing happened he frowned.

"I think your gun is broken, grandpa." He said. Samuel laughed.

"I've got it on the safety, which means you can't shoot it. And I said not to shoot unless I said so, remember?" Dean squirmed guiltily and nodded.

After a couple of more adjustments, Samuel helped Dean aim the gun at a target that was lying against the fence on the other side of the yard. He was hesitant to switch off the safety, but he finally decided that Dean was ready. He gave Dean a serious look.

"Alright, I'm gonna let you shoot now, okay?" He said, "But do you remember how when I shot, the gun was hitting my shoulder?" Dean nodded. "Well, that's called recoil, and it might catch you by surprise, so be aware of that, okay?" Dean nodded again, one eye squeezed shut and the other one looking at the target. Samuel smiled and reached to turn off the safety.

Before he could, however, a shadow fell over the both of them. Dean looked up, and his smile faltered.

Standing above them was a man. He wasn't an incredibly tall man, but he was still much taller than Dean. He was holding a gun himself, but he didn't seem as excited about it as Dean did. In fact, he seemed almost bored.

"Wow, training him already. Should we be worried, Gramps?" He said to Samuel, who stiffened and quickly stood up. He gently took the gun from Dean.

"Dean, go wait in the house." He said quietly, glaring at the man. Dean looked between the two.

"Why?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter, just do it." Samuel said through gritted teeth.

"Well that hardly seems fair, now does it, Samuel? Wouldn't want to be talking about the child without him here, would we? That would just be rude."

Dean looked at the man again. "Who are you?" He blurted.

"Dean." Samuel warned, but the man smiled. He did a weird bow to Dean that almost made him fall over.

"My apologies. The name's Balthazar. Nice to meet you, Dean."

Dean looked back up at Samuel, unsure of what to do. Samuel looked back down at him, and for the first time, Dean was scared at the look he saw in his grandfather's eyes. They were cold and angry.

"Dean. Go to the house. _Now._"

Dean finally nodded. As he turned, however, he heard a gun cock.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Dean."

Dean froze and turned back around. Balthazar wasn't pointing the gun at him, but he was still holding it carefully, like he could be ready to use it at any point. Samuel, however, had the barrel of the gun inches from Balthazar's face. Balthazar didn't seem to mind. He didn't even flinch.

"See Dean," Balthazar continued, "It's you that I want to talk to."

Dean stiffened.

"What do you want?"

"Dean, stop, now." Samuel threw Dean another glance, and then turned back to Balthazar. "I don't want you to have any part in this. Just go back to the house and I'll deal with this."

Dean shook his head. "But-"

"Do you want to see your brother again?"

Dean stared at Balthazar. "What?"

"Do you want to see you brother again?" Balthazar repeated calmly. "If you want to see him, stay here and talk with me."

"You're lying!" Dean yelled angrily. "My brother… my brother's dead! He died in a car crash with my parents!"

Balthazar looked genuinely surprised, and then turned back to Samuel. "So that's what you told him? Not very creative, I must say." He looked at Dean and smiled warmly. "You're brother's not dead, Dean. He's very much alive. He misses you though." He extended his hand. "Come with me. I'll take you to him."

Dean found himself walking forward before he even realized what he was doing, stretching out his hand. Sammy was alive? But that didn't make any sense. Wouldn't Samuel have told him this? And who was he gonna trust more, this strange man, or his own grandfather? Dean stopped walking forward and his hand dropped to his side.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" He asked suspiciously. Samuel breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dean, please, I'm begging you. Stay out of this. I'll explain everything, but for right now, _please_, get in the house."

Dean finally nodded and walked past his grandfather towards the house. Samuel grabbed his arm and looked him in the eyes, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"In my room," he said quickly, "There's a gun. There's ammo in the back. Grab it, protect yourself at all costs. Go." Dean's eyes widened and he nodded. He didn't understand how bad the situation really was, but he did get that something was wrong.

"I guess we'll talk later then." He heard Balthazar yell after him as he ran to the house.

It didn't take long to find Samuel's gun, since Dean always saw him take it out and clean it. He grabbed it and ran through the house and onto the deck outside. He searched through the many boxes and finally found a box with some shells in it.

_Protect yourself at all costs._

What did that mean? Did that mean to go back in the house, or try to get away? He didn't even know if he could figure out how to load a gun.

His eyes fell on a small wooden raft that was at the edge of the large lake that his grandfather lived next to. It had one tiny oar and seemed stable enough. Dean looked around and made a split-second decision.

"_I've always wanted to go on a raft in the lake, I guess."_

He ran down to the shore and dragged the wooden raft down into the water. He threw the gun and the box of shells on it and hopped onto it himself before the raft went sailing out into the ocean. Panic slowly started to rise up in his chest. His mother would have scolded him for the words in his mind.

"_That was probably one of the most dumbass things I have EVER done._"

Well, what now? He was floating in the middle of a lake without any knowledge on how to steer the raft back, or anywhere else for that matter. Where would he even go? What was his plan? Oh, yeah, that's right, he didn't have one. Why was he such an idiot?

He glanced down into the water. What if there was something down there? Some kind of creature that is sitting below the surface, waiting to pull Dean down and drown him? He shivered. No, it was best not to think like that. He was going to scare himself to death before any monster could even get a hold of him.

He heard a sudden gun shot.

In panic he lifted the gun and tried to position the gun the way that Samuel had taught him. The panic rose up again in his chest, stronger this time. Did this mean that Samuel was…?

"What are you doing?"

Dean nearly fell of the raft in surprise and fear. Right next to his floating raft, staying perfectly calm in the water, was a boy. He had his elbows on the raft and his chin rested in his hands, watching Dean scramble away from him. His dark hair was dripping wet, and his deep blue eyes were staring at Dean with a weird intensity.

"What the-" Dean looked at the boy with narrowed eyes. "Who are you? What are you doing down there without a shirt on? Aren't you cold?"

"What are you doing up there on that raft?" The boy asked innocently, "Can't you breath?"

"Of course I can breathe, what kinda question is that?" Dean tried and failed to calm down. "What are you doing on the edge of my raft? Who are you?"

"That's a weird looking stick." He nodded his head towards the gun in Dean's hand. "What is it?"

"Stop trying to avoid the question!" Dean said with authority, trying his best to sound like his father when he was angry, "And this? This is called a gun. It shoots and kills people."

The boy's eyebrows knit together in anger.

"Well why do you have it then? Are you trying to kill people? That's not very nice. You seem too nice to kill people. Are you going to kill me?" The boys started to get a panicked look and slowly withdrew from the boat, head going back down under the water.

"No, wait!" Dean yelled, looking around and crawling over to the place where he had disappeared, "Don't go under there, you'll drown! And I'm not gonna kill you! It's for protection!"

"Protection from what?" Dean jumped again. The boy was now on the other side of the raft where Dean had been sitting. Dean sighed.

"Stop doing that. And I'm not exactly sure WHAT I'm facing right now. My grandfather didn't want to tell me anything." He looked back at the house. "I hope he's okay…"

"Me too." The boy said sadly. Dean gave him a weird look.

"You don't even know him!"

"Yes, but I don't like it when people get hurt." The boy shook his head. "It makes me sad."

"Who ARE you?" Dean said again. Now the boy looked at him weirdly.

"What do you mean, who am I? Nobody's ever asked me that before."

"I mean, what's your name? What do people call you?" The boy still looked confused.

"People don't really call me anything. They don't like to talk to me."

"Well, you've gotta have a name! Like, my name is Dean. Dean Winchester. Nice to meetcha."

"Oh!" The boy's eyes lit up excitedly. "I know! One time, there was another boy who called me something, back where I live. I can't remember his name, but he called me… um…"

"Back where you live?"

"Yeah." The boy looked up. "I don't live here. I was placed here for emergencies and backup. I'm an important weapon that will be very useful in the upcoming war."

"Upcoming war?" Dean said fearfully.

"Yes. What's a war?" The boy asked curiously, and then his eyes lit up again. "Castiel! That's what the boy called me! He called me Castiel."

"Castiel." Dean said slowly. "That's a weird name."

"Is it? I think it's great."

"Yeah, it's awesome, it's just weird."

"Alright."

They sat in silence for a bit.

"How come you didn't have a name?" Dean asked. Castiel looked thoughtful.

"Nobody ever gave me one, I guess."

"What about your family?"

"They're too busy planning the war." He said, as if he was making a simple observation on the weather. Dean wanted to ask more, but he guessed that Castiel didn't know much, seeing as he didn't even know what a war was.

"Why don't you come out of the water?" He suggested. "It has to be pretty cold. I don't even know why you're down there in the first place."

"Of course I'm not cold. I belong in the water."

"That… makes no sense."

Understanding crossed Castiel's face. "Oh, you think I'm like you. I guess you would."

"Like you?"

"Yes, I'm not like you, Dean. In fact, I'm quite different. See, look."

Castiel dipped back down in the water before Dean could stop him.

"Castiel!" He called, "What are you-"

Before he could finish, there was a splash a little ways from the raft. He say a flash of dark hair and light skin, then he saw a beautiful tail, covered in colorful scales that quickly disappeared back into the water. Castiel popped back up next to the boat shortly afterwards, grinning widely.

"Oh, Castiel, you missed it! There was this huge…" Dean's eyes widened. Castiel kept smirking. Next to him in the water, Dean saw the same tail. It seemed to come up and attach to the body of a boy…

"You're… You're a…." Dean shook his head. Castiel gave Dean an interested look.

"I'm what?" He asked excitedly. "What am I, Dean?"

"You're a… Merman? Merboy? I don't know, what the heck are you?"

Castiel's face fell. "I was hoping you knew."

"How could you not know what you are?" Dean said incredulously, "What about your family? Not naming you is one thing, but not even telling you what species you are? That's horrible."

"Well," said Castiel thoughtfully, "They DID say that I was a weapon. So I guessed that that was what I was. But apparently not. The only other thing that they told me was that I placed here for emergencies and backup. I'm an important weapon that will be very useful in the upcoming war."

"Wait, didn't you already say that?"

"Yeah, like I said, that's all they've told me about myself."

"I don't think that you can really call those people your family."

"Well, what do you call family?" Castiel asked curiously.

"Well, first of all, my grandfather on the shore over there." Dean nodded to the house. "He's my Mom's dad. And then…" Dean stopped for a second and looked down at his knees. "Well, I had a family. I had a mom, and a dad, and a little brother."

"What happened?"

"They died. In a car crash."

Castiel looked down also. "That's very sad. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well. Nothing I can do about it now."

"What was your brother's name?"

Dean smiled. "Sammy."

Cas looked up suddenly, eyes wide. "How old was he?"

"Almost six."

"What did he look like?"

"Why do you ask?"

Castiel smiled excitedly. "Because I just met an almost-six year old named Sammy with an older brother named Dean."

"What?" Dean sat up and scooted closer to Castiel. "How? Where?" Realization and dread suddenly washed over Dean. "You're with them?" He whispered. "You're with the people trying to kill me?"

"Trying to kill you?" Castiel's eyes squinted in confusion and his head tilted a little to the side, making him look a little like a confused puppy. "Why would you think that?"

"That man, Balthazar, he said that he had my brother! And you said that you just met him! Are you working with them?" Dean started backing away from Castiel now. "Is that why you're here? Are you trying to distract me or something?"

"No! No, Dean, I don't know what you're talking about!" Castiel cried out, "I would never hurt you! You're my only friend!"

"What?" Dean stopped moving. "Who said we were friends?"

"Your brother, Sam, he said that I was his friend! He said that if I ever met you, he was sure that you would like me too! And he said that talking with somebody for at least five minutes means that you were friends."

"Were did he learn that?" Dean asked, confused. "That's not true." But his chest started to fill up with joy in learning that Sam was alive, that this boy, or whatever he was, had spoken to him.

"I don't know, maybe that's what my family said to him to get them to trust them. But please, Dean, I'm not trying to hurt you!"

"Yeah, I know, I just…" Dean sighed. "What are you doing with those people? They don't seem very nice at all."

Castiel shook his head in agreement. "Oh, they aren't. They're all horrible people. But they raised me. That makes them my family, right?"

"Raised you? You call that being raised?" Dean shook his head. "They didn't give you a name, they don't like to talk to you, and they didn't even tell you what SPECIES you were! How do you call that a family? A family…" Dean struggled for a moment to try and explain. "A family is when you have people who love you, who will always be there for you, who comfort you when you're scared, tease you when you do something embarrassing… I dunno, everyone has a different definition of family, but it definitely isn't… that."

"That was how you were raised?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

Castiel looked back down again, and Dean saw something in his eyes that he couldn't quite identify. "In a glass case filled with water, mostly."

"What?"

"Well, I spent the first six months of my life being examined and experimented on, and I remember every second of it. Once they found out they could use me, they put me in this big glass case. They called it my "fishbowl". They told me that I was a weapon and stuff like that. They fed me their extra scraps."

Castiel said all of this so calmly and casually that Dean realized that he thought that this was okay. He thought that it was completely acceptable to be treated like that. It made Dean want to throw up.

"I was in that "aquarium" for about 10 years. I didn't really learn much while I was in there, but I taught myself how to talk by listening to them. Other than that, it was mostly me trying to keep from being absolutely bored. I made up a couple games and stuff, but they never really worked. So some of the men started to come and teach me about what I was being kept for and what they expected from me. They told me that if I was good, they would let me out and I would be put somewhere where I could be of better use to them."

"And it was where I met your brother. When they brought him in, he was really scared, but he seemed to like me, so they let him sit and talk with me for hours until he got more comfortable. But then they took him somewhere, and I haven't seen him since." Castiel looked sad. "He was really nice."

"Yeah." Dean couldn't really thing of what to say. How could anyone possibly do that to someone like Castiel? He seemed way too… nice.

"But," Castiel brightened, "They finally decided I was ready and they put me out here! There are so many more things to do! Places to go! I could stay here forever!" Castiel pushed away from the raft and swam around it quickly, laughing as he went. Dean watched in awe. Castiel abruptly stopped and swam over to Dean, eyes excited.

"Hey, do you wanna see something cool?" He asked.

"Sure!"

Castiel smiled. "Come in here with me."

"What?" Dean's eyes widened. "But I'll get all wet and-"

"You won't get wet." Castiel promised. "Trust me."

Dean debated for a moment, and then nodded.

"Watch." Castiel said. He held out his hand. Dean hesitated, and then grasped it.

He was immediately pulled into the water, and struggled for a moment, eyes shut tight. He could still feel Castiel's hand grasping on tightly to his. Dean felt his clothes and was surprised to find that they were completely dry. He felt the water all around him, but it didn't seem to be affecting him. He suddenly heard a laugh that sounded way too real to be underwater.

"You can open your eyes, Dean. And breathe. As long as I'm still touching you."

Dean shook his head, and Castiel laughed again.

"Come on Dean, trust me!"

Dean opened his eyes a tiny bit and was surprised again to find that it didn't hurt them. In fact, it was exactly like opening them while above the surface. He let go the breath that he was holding and sucked in a breath of water. But it was exactly like air. He smiled at Castiel.

"This is so cool!" He yelled in delight. Castiel chuckled again.

"Careful, you'll scare away all the fish." He said, before turning away and leading Dean by the hand deeper to the bottom of the lake.

Dean looked in amazement at all of the beauty of the lake. The water was clear to his eyes, and he guessed it was due to Castiel… doing whatever the heck it was that he was doing. His attention, however, was soon directed at watching Castiel's tail. He realized that it should probably creep him out, but it was just much to mesmerizing. The scales reflected the light of the water, making them change to different shades of blue and green. They way that it moved while pushing them both forward… Dean couldn't tear his eyes away.

He thought for a moment about the old Disney movie, and about how those tails looked. Castiel's tail didn't look like any of those. It looked like he might have actually had legs under those scales, and there was just a thin layer of skin wrapping them together like green plastic wrap. And where his feet would usually was where where the tail actually looked like the tails did in _The Little Mermaid_. It split off into two fins, or thin little shapes of skin.

"There it is!" He heard Castiel yell over his shoulder, and looked towards where his finger was pointing. His eyes widened and his jaw actually dropped.

In front of them was what looked like a giant dome-bubble. He wondered for the first time how big this lake really was, and how nobody had ever seen it before. Through the bubble, he could see what looked like a large island. It was like one of the tropical islands Dean had seen on TV. It had tall palm tree-looking plants, with multiple fruits growing on them.

Castiel brought Dean down to the lake bottom. Dean looked up nervously. He knew that if it wasn't for Castiel, he would have been crushed by the pressure of the water a long time ago.

"Go inside." Castiel grinned at him.

"Aren't you coming? I need you to make me… not die." Dean said worriedly. Castiel grinned wider.

"There's air inside the bubble. Seriously, go in there and get to the shore, I'll get there in a second."

Dean nodded, then took a deep breath. He stepped forward into the bubble.

It was probably one of the weirdest things he's ever felt. It was like walking through a thin sheet of plastic wrap. But once he got to the other side, he gasped in some air and looked down at his hand, which was still being gripped tight by Castiel. He couldn't see anything on the other side of the bubble; he could only see the island behind him being reflected. He hoped that Castiel could see him as he gave thumbs up.

The hand released him and quickly when back out into the lake. Dean stared at where it had disappeared for a moment before turning back to face the island. He grinned wildly. This was definitely the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him, and there had been A LOT of weird things in his life. He walked through the sandy beach and into the small forest of trees, pulling a fruit off of one of the branches as he went.

He had never seen anything like this before. The flowers were all bright and exotic-looking, the ground was soft with dirt, and there were small pools of water every few yards. Dean wished that he had six pairs of eyes, because he couldn't take it all in at once.

"Dean."

Dean jumped. He looked behind him into one of the pools and saw Castiel in one of them, smirking up at him.

"I thought I told you to stop doing that, Cas." Dean mumbled, going to sit on the ground next to the pool. Cas tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"You called me Cas."

"Uh, yeah?" Dean shrugged. "So?"

"That's not my name."

"Well, it's short for Castiel. I didn't want to say the whole thing so I just… shortened it." Castiel still looked confused. Dean sighed.

"My brother, Sam. His full name is Samuel, like my grandpa. But most people call him Sam, and I call him Sammy. It's just something that people do when they're friends."

Castiel brightened. "So we _are _friends then?"

Dean laughed. "I think that you could say that, yeah." Dean looked around. "What is this place?"

Cas shrugged. "I dunno. I found it here. I'm not sure where it came from."

"Then why are you showing me?"

Castiel shrugged again. "I thought it might be fun. Do you like it?"

"Dude, yes!" Dean stared up at the trees in amazement. "It's awesome!"

"I'm glad you think so." Castiel smiled. "I was thinking…" He hesitated.

"What?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could come here often. Talk with each other. Become better friends like I did with your brother. And if they ever take me back to my home, I can try to tell Sam about everything you said."

Dean nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely! I want to come back here every day for the rest of eternity!"

Cas perked up. "Really?" He said excitedly.

Dean laughed. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

Cas swam away from Dean and preformed what could only be a victory swim. When he got back, he was smiling widely.

"I'm glad I met you, Dean Winchester."

"Same here." Dean suddenly remembered the gunshot he had heard earlier and he stood up quickly, eyes wide. "Cas, this is awesome, and I want to stay longer, but I have to go for today."

Cas stopped smiling. He eyes looked down, disappointed. "Already?"

"I've gotta make sure my grandpa is okay. And there's still a lot of stuff I've gotta talk with him about. Like how Sam is alive and stuff."

"Dean." Castiel suddenly looked deadly serious. "You can't tell him about me. Nobody can know."

"Then how come you told me?" Dean started to shift in impatience. Cas shrugged.

"You looked trustworthy."

Dean stopped. He pointed to himself. "Me?"

"You _are_ the only one here, Dean." Castiel backed away from the edge of the pool. "I'll go back out to the outside of the dome. Meet me there, and I'll take you back up to the surface." And then he was gone. Dean stared at the place where he had been a moment earlier, shook his head, and then began running back out to the edge of the giant bubble.

Once he reached the edge, he frowned. He still couldn't see anything but the reflection of the Island scene behind him.

"Um… Cas?" He put his hand on the outside of the bubble. The moment his hand touched the water, he pulled his hand back into the safety of the bubble. That water was _cold_. He scratched his head.

"I'm not really sure how to proceed from here."

He heard a laugh from the other side of the thin dome wall. He glared at the wall.

"Are you laughing at me, Cas?"

The laugh got louder. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Just do your weird magic crap."

A hand appeared and held itself out for Dean's hand. Dean sighed and grabbed the hand without hesitation. It pulled him back out into the water, but this time, it definitely wasn't as cold. Cas kept a tight hold on his hand, pulling him up further and further until his head finally hit the surface.

It was a weird transition. He was so used to breathing water that he choked on the freshness of the air for a couple moments, but then he was fine. He climbed back up on his raft, and then once he was secure, he let go of Cas's hand. Cas smiled sadly.

"I guess you're gonna go now."

Dean nodded. "Yeah." He smiled widely. "Hey, thanks for today. I had a really fun time." Cas looked up hopefully.

"So, you're sure you'll come back tomorrow?"

Dean crossed an x over the left side of his chest. "Promise."

Castiel smiled. "Bye, Dean!" He backed away from the raft and his head disappeared back into the water. Dean stared once again at the place he had been a moment before, then lifted his hand and waved goodbye.

"Bye, Cas!" He yelled, hoping that Castiel could hear him. He lowered his hand. "Seeya later." He whispered to himself. He picked up the oar and started rowing back to the shore.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: 10 Years ago.

"Dean."

Dean didn't open his eyes. Instead, he continued lying down in the boat that he had made a couple of years previously. He smiled slightly and but his hands on the top of his stomach.

"Cas."

"You didn't change." Castiel observed, looking sadly at the nice suit that Dean was wearing. "Why?"

Dean shrugged. "I dunno. I forgot."

"You didn't forget."

Dean stayed silent.

"Dean."

Dean sat up and finally opened his eyes, looking at his best friend, who was at the edge of the boat, looking at him concernedly. He's so different, Dean noticed. He'd changed. They both had. But Cas, Cas had changed the most.

"I'm fine." Dean said. "Seriously, I'm okay. I'm more worried about… yeah."

"About?"

Dean sighed. "The war. Now that Samuel's… gone, they need someone to take over." Dean shrugged. "I'm next in line, I guess."

Castiel stiffened. "You're going to take over the war? You're becoming the new general?"

Dean shrugged again. "I don't know WHAT I'm gonna do yet, Cas. I mean, someone has to take over."

"No, they don't." Cas said exasperatedly, "If you would just try and convince them to stop-"

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." He muttered.

Cas glared at him. "I'm serious, Dean. You have lots of influence, and you could change a lot of minds if you just tried to explain what happened-"

"Cas," Dean said angrily, "You don't understand. That's not how war works. It doesn't matter how this thing started, it only matters how it's gonna end."

Castiel's expression softened. "You didn't used to think that."

"Well, Cas, being a soldier will do that to you."

"I can only imagine how being a general will affect you."

Dean stiffened. "I never said-"

"Dean."

"What!?" Dean threw his hands up in the air, "What, Cas? What do you want me to do? I can't stop the war, that would never work, and even if it did, there would be complete chaos. If there's no general, then we'll lose the war and a lot of people will die."

"People are already dying."

Dean groaned and fell back down on the boat, covering his face with his hands. "You're impossible. Why do I ever come to you for help?"

"Because you promised." Cas looked at Dean with concern on his face again. "Remember?"

Dean smiled under his hands. "Yeah, I remember, buddy."

"Then why won't you listen to me?" Castiel sighed. "I may not know as much about war as you do, but I do know something about what it does to people. The evidence is sitting in front of me."

Dean looked back at Cas. "How's Sam?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Cas. Please."

Cas sighed. "He's a lot like you, actually. He's not fine, and he's not willing to admit it." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but what's he been doing?"

"Leading a war. What did you think he was doing?"

"Seriously. You. Are. _Impossible_."

"That's why I'm your friend, Dean Winchester. You need impossible help."

"I _need,_" Dean suddenly shouted, "For this to be over! I want to see my brother! I don't want to fight him! He probably doesn't even remember me, Cas; do you know what that does to me?"

"Yes. I've seen it. And I know you can stop it!"

"You know what, Cas?" Dean sat up and angrily grabbed the oar in this boat. "I'm not even going to TRY and deal with you right now, Mr. Bossy scales."

"Dean, wait." Castiel sighed. "I'm sorry. I just… don't want you to turn into what Sam has. I don't want you to be that cruel."

"I know, Cas, I know." Dean laid back down on the boat and closed his eyes again. "I would give anything to escape it."

Cas grinned. "You can escape it for a little while, at least."

Dean smiled and stood up, taking off his suit jacket. "Alright, let's go."

Castiel grabbed his arm without warning and pulled Dean into the lake. Dean gasped in shock and then glared at Cas. Castiel shot him a mischievous grin and swam forward. Dean rolled his eyes and grabbed on to the end of the merman's tail.

"Seriously, Cas, just ONCE. It's really not that bad."

Castiel wrinkled his nose. "Dean, I really don't think-"

"Come on, you know you want some." Dean held out a bottle to Cas. "I promise it's not gonna kill ya."

"You don't actually know that, Dean, because a merperson has never actually had alcohol before. Don't make promises you can't keep." Cas swam back a little further in the pool until he was floating in the middle of it. He looked around at the cabin. "I can't believe it's been almost two years since you built this place." He murmured, smiling.

"Yeah, well, time passes quickly, doesn't it? And guess what else is going quickly?" Dean took a sip of his beer and pointed at the bottle still unopened on the table. "My patience."

Cas rolled his eyes. "Dean, I am not trying your beer. Leave it."

"Oh, live a little, why don't you?" Cas didn't answer. "Cas."

"What, Dean?"

"Please?" Dean put on his best 'kicked puppy' face. "For me?"

Castiel hesitated.

"I'm feeling horribly self-conscious and I'm starting to have self-doubts about myself because you won't join in on drowning my sorrows. Do you know what that does to a person, Cas?" He laughed. "Well, I guess we know what happened to Samuel, don't-"

"Stop." The power in Cas's voice made Dean shut up. The merman glared at him. "Don't joke about that. It's not funny."

"Why?" Dean knew he was a little drunk, but he didn't care. "That's what happened. He couldn't handle being responsible for the deaths of thousands, so he thought hey? How about I screw everyone else EVEN MORE, huh? Won't that be a bag full of laughs! I can't deal with the decisions I've made, so I'll ruin the life of every soldier who ever had the misfortune of joining me in this stupid goddamn war-"

"Dean, I'm serious. Once more word-"

"And you'll what, splash water at me?" Dean snorted. "This is a lot of talk coming from the guy who can't even leave his captor's side. I mean, you can run away any time you like. You can seriously just go out into the ocean and never come back! Why the hell are you still here?"

Castiel glared. "I told you, Dean. I'm bound by contract."

"Why did you sign a contract?"

"I didn't, it was my father."

"How do you know that?"

"Because that's what they told me."

"Break it."

"Excuse me?"

"Just break the stupid contract."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because it's a contract bound my magic, Dean, we've been over this!"

Dean scoffed. "Magic. Are you kidding me? That crap ain't real."

"Dean, you are hundreds of feet below the lake's surface on an island surrounded by a bubble drinking beer and talking to a merman. And you still don't believe in magic?"

"Hell no."

"Of course." Castiel rolled his eyes. "That's so incredibly _you._ Seeing the evidence right in front of you, and still unable to believe it." He glared at Dean. "You know what; maybe you would make a good general."

Dean stiffened. "Thanks, Cas. I appreciate your support. You know, none of this would have happened if you would have just _tried _the _beer_."

"Okay."

Dean stopped. "What?"

"I said okay. Hand me the bottle, Dean." Castiel didn't look at Dean, and instead held out his hand. Dean slowly picked up the beer.

"You're serious?" He said disbelievingly.

"Dean." Cas looked up at Dean, and Dean could clearly see the anger that boiled the bright blue water in his eyes. His whole body was shaking. Dean threw the beer at him and he caught it easily. He opened the bottle and sniffed at it cautiously. He shrugged and took a big gulp.

And then immediately spat it back out, gagging.

Dean leaned back in his chair and exploded into laughter. "You totally fell for it! That was hilarious, oh my god!"

"Dean," Castiel gasped, "Dean, I think that maybe alcohol is poisonous for people like me! You have to-"

"It's not poisonous, dumbass. It just tastes bad at first." Dean wiped tears from his eyes. "Priceless."

"I'm so glad that I _amuse _you." Castiel muttered before disappearing under the water.

"Oh, come on, Cas, don't be such a drama queen."

Silence.

"Cas?"

Still nothing.

"Alright, Cas, I'm sorry. Come back." Dean stood up and sat down on the towel that he had placed next to the pool so many years ago. Castiel still didn't answer. "Cas?" Dean said, slightly worried now. "Come one, buddy, you're starting to scare me."

The pool rippled slightly.

"Cas?" Dean scooted closer to the pool, looking into the water. "Cas? Cas, where are you?"

A small splash. Bubbles. Dean reached his hand out and hesitantly touched the water.

Castiel burst up from the water, gasping. He dragged himself out of the pool and collapsed down next to Dean.

"Dean!" He moaned, "Dean, something's-" He choked and convulsed slightly.

"Cas? Cas!" Dean crawled over to Castiel's shaking body. "Cas, what's wrong, what happened?"

"Something's… coming!" Cas gasped, "Run… away!"

"Not until I help you!" Dean yelled. He looked hesitantly at Cas's twitching chest. "What do I do? What's wrong with you."

"I don't KNOW!" Cas yelled out in pain. "Oh god, Dean, it hurts so bad-"

"What? What hurts, Cas?"

"It's… my… tail… Dean…" Cas groaned again, "They've done… something… to it!"

"Who? Who did this to you? Dammit, Cas, what am I supposed to DO?"

Castiel suddenly stopped shaking, his head falling limp. Dean stared at his un-moving body, eyes widening.

"Cas? Cas." He shook Cas's arm. "Don't you dare die on me, you stupid son of a bitch, don't you dare. Not right now."

Cas slowly opened his eyes. "Dean."

"Oh, thank god." Dean's head fell forward and onto Cas's chest in relief. "I thought you were gone for a second there. You scared the crap outta me."

"Dean." Cas said softly. "Get away."

"What?"

Castiel pushed Dean off of him and dragged himself further from him. "I'm serious, Dean, stay away."

"What the hell did I do?" Dean said, hurt. "I was trying to help you-"

"Dean." Castiel warned. He looked down at his long tail. "Seriously, you don't want to be too close for this."

"To close for what?"

Castiel's tail slowly started to glow. Cas's face scrunched up in pain. "Dean, get back!" He yelled, before bursting into a white light.

Dean threw his arm over his eyes and scrambled away from Cas. He watched the white light slowly drift upwards. Then, as soon as it had appeared, the light vanished and Castiel was left hanging in the air for a split second before collapsing back down onto the ground in a mess of limbs.

Wait… a mess of _limbs._

Castiel had legs.


End file.
